


Set Me On Fire (I’ll Burn For You)

by logicalwritings



Series: Sanders Sides Misc. Work [10]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Death, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sad, Suicide, pyromancer, twisted soulmate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 06:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13335744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/logicalwritings/pseuds/logicalwritings
Summary: Virgil lets out a loud and cynical laugh. “Oh God, you’re going to kill me.”Roman looks confused but still gives a booming laugh. “Because I’m so attractive?”Virgil laughs and his forehead falls against Roman’s chest and doesn’t say a word. He listens to the thrum of Roman’s heartbeat, music pulsing across the room. Suddenly, he feels old, sober, and sad. Roman’s hand just gently pats the back of Virgil’s head, laughing his rich laugh when one of his friends make a joke about “the damsels are just falling all over you tonight.”or.Virgil’s destined to be killed by a man named Roman.





	Set Me On Fire (I’ll Burn For You)

Roman and Virgil were never supposed to have met- or at least, Virgil was warned against ever hanging out with or associating with Roman.

They do anyway because “screw the universe” or whatever. The little inscription on Virgil’s wrist, an inscription that’s supposed to hold the name of who or what you would die by, says “Roman Sanders” with a little flame under the name. Growing up, Virgil’s never allowed to take classes with kids named Roman, he’s forced to stay at home most of the time instead of going out, and he rarely interacts with anyone besides his mom and his dad.

College comes around and Virgil’s just as cautious. However, one night he’s drug out with some kids from his Chemistry class to a party held by a lake. He meets a boy with sandy hair, wearing a beautiful white and red shirt that makes him look like a prince. He approaches him, drunk out of his mind, and asks him to dance. The guy accepts with a huge grin as his friends laugh at Virgil’s sloppy speech.

“You have a nice emo aesthetic going on, Hot Topic,” the guys says, voice filled with a richness Virgil couldn’t describe.

“’S my favourite style,” Virgil slurs. “What’s your name, Princey?”

“Roman.”

Virgil lets out a loud and cynical laugh. “Oh God, you’re going to kill me.”

Roman looks confused but still gives a booming laugh. “Because I’m so attractive?”

Virgil laughs and his forehead falls against Roman’s chest and doesn’t say a word. He listens to the thrum of Roman’s heartbeat, music pulsing across the room. Suddenly, he feels old, sober, and sad. Roman’s hand just gently pats the back of Virgil’s head, laughing his rich laugh when one of his friends make a joke about “the damsels are just falling all over you tonight.”

Roman drives him to his dorm, even helping him up to his room and into his pyjamas. Then he leaves, leaving his number and saying to call if Virgil needs anything. When Virgil wakes up the next day and sees the phone number scrawled on a sheet of paper with a neat signature reading _Roman_ , he has to do his breathing and grounding exercises over seven times to get himself out of the panic he feels consuming himself.

_Maybe he’s not the Roman that kills me. It’s just a… different Roman._

Virgil texts Roman and thanks him for taking him back and they go for coffee later that day. And coffee becomes hanging out in each other’s dorms. Hanging out becomes nearly living together, Roman spending more nights with him than staying in his own dorm.

Virgil never tells him- never explains or shows his wrists to Roman. He wears long sleeves around his _friend_ and Roman begins getting suspicious when they’re in the sweltering sun and Virgil refuses to take his hoodie off.

“Hot Topic…” Roman trails off. He gently grabs Virgil’s hands in his and runs his thumb over the fabric covering Virgil’s wrists. “You can tell me anything, you know?”

In that instant, Virgil realises what Roman is saying and his eyes go wide and he yanks his wrists away. “I’m not… I’m doing _that_ ,” he spits.

Roman sighs. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m here.”

Virgil figures it’s better to let Roman believe that he’s harming himself rather than him know that he’s destined to murder Virgil.

Two weeks later, Virgil meets Logan, his childhood friend, at a coffee shop and Logan sips his drink looking stern and scolding when Virgil tells Logan about the blossoming relationship between himself and Roman.

“You can’t remain his friend, Virgil.”

“He’s even closer than just a friend,” Virgil whimpers and he tugs his hair. Logan looks sympathetic.

“Virgil,” he warns quietly.

“I can’t just abandon him.”

Two weeks later, Virgil finds out that Roman has been keeping a secret of his own. They’re sitting in a field, staring at the skies late at night. The stars shine on them and Roman reaches his hand toward the sky and twists his hand. Fire licks at his fingertips and slowly, Roman charms it into a lone figure of a man who dances, embers flickering off Roman’s hand and hitting the grass.

Virgil jerks backward, eyes wider than ever. The fire symbol on his wrist burns to the point it’s an actual physical pain Virgil cannot bear. Roman looks at him, tears gathering in his eyes.

“You’re a pyromancer,” Virgil chokes out.

Roman nods, chewing his lip. “I can’t help it. I was born this way. Everyone’s always so… scared of me.” And then Roman’s great pride falls and he drops his head into his hands and weeps. Virgil crawls over and latches his arms around Roman, shuddering to his bones, both fearful and desperate to comfort.

“It’s okay,” Virgil whispers and his lips brush against Roman’s ear. And in that moment, he feels no fear.

They move in together, officially, after they graduate, along with Patton, a friend of Roman’s who is unbearably sweet and childish. Virgil convinces himself that it’s a different Roman destined to kill him. Or maybe the universe is dumb. And love can conquer the… the desire for murder? Or whatever.

Logan says he’s being illogical; Virgil ignores him.

On a dreary evening, Roman loses his temper and burns an entire greenhouse to the ground by accident and thank God no one dies or is even injured. Besides Roman, who snaps his wrist to try and hold a burning part of the building up to help someone escape. There are lawsuits and the awful possibility of him being locked away. Logan looks infuriatingly concerned, his eyes screaming _I told you so_. But it’s settled and Roman pays a huge fine for the damage but national unrest grows higher because _we can’t let these freaks endanger our children. These… things aren’t human. They don’t deserve life._

Several weeks after the incident, on a dark night, Roman sits alone, staring at the fireplace. A man made of fire dances on the logs, Roman’s eyes glowing the fiery red. He looks heart-sickeningly sad. Virgil sits beside him and wraps his arms around his waist.

“Are you lonely, Roman?”

“Just tonight. I’m not usually lonely, I’m not-” Roman trails off quietly. “I am happy.” He smiles at Virgil as if to prove his point. “But some nights are so… dark. And lonely.” He shudders and tears run down his cheeks. “I feel as if something terrible is to happen, Virgil.”

“I always feel like something terrible is going to happen,” Virgil says with a laugh.

Roman looks to him and looks more serious than ever. “I feel as if something bad will happen to you. Because of me.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me,” Virgil forces through the lump in his throat.

Roman’s hand traces Virgil’s sleeve and slowly lifts it up. Virgil doesn’t fight it, only flutters his eyes shut as Roman lets out a strangled whimper.

“It doesn’t have to be true, you moron,” Virgil whispers. “I don’t have to die like that- I don’t-”

They sit in silence, Roman tracing the familiar shape of his name and a flame on Virgil’s wrist. Eventually, the soothing feeling of Roman’s soft fingertips lulls him to sleep. When he awakes, he’s terribly cold and achy. The fire in the fireplace is gone and so is Roman.

Virgil makes breakfast and waits, pretending he’s patiently waiting for Roman to come home so they can spend another night together, playing games with Patton. Laughing as if there are no more cares to be given. But six anxiety attacks and a whole two days later, he realises Roman isn’t coming back.

He receives a letter in the mail two months later.

_Virgil._

_I am sorry. I’m a coward. I’ll miss you._

_-Roman._

It’s so vague and even with Logan analyzing it, he can’t understand. “It sounds like a goodbye,” Logan confesses. Virgil sobs and two days later, he’s called by Roman’s mom. They found his body in his car by the road, burned alive.

Virgil lives the next year in a blur of Logan and Patton coming to his bed where he refuses to leave without having a crippling panic attack. They gently urge him to leave, but he can’t. Patton forces him to eat and Logan makes him take his medicine and tries to get him to get coffee again, as they used to.

Virgil can’t find it in himself to get up, even with their urgings and slowly begins to think darker thoughts, wishing the bed would swallow him whole and just- kill him already. The markings on his wrist fade and soon enough, it’s completely gone. And Virgil’s realises with a sinking feeling why Roman’s wrists were always bare, always clean, and pale as if he were never going to die. Virgil decides, screw the universe and its stupid _this is how you’re gonna die, no matter what_ system. He picks up his cellphone.

 He calls the suicide prevention hotline.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback pls? :) <3 
> 
> tumblr; ssides


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